Birthday in Tasmania

May 2017, Tasmanian Pelagic

For years I'd been looking forward to finally getting on a fabled Eaglehawk Pelagic. They are (rightfully so) recognised as one of the best seabird trips one can do anywhere the world, annually pulling some extraordinary sightings and sensational seabirds. Fantastic species such as Westland Petrel, Grey Petrel, Light-mantled Albatross, Salvin's Albatross, Antarctic Tern and Southern Fulmar have all become annual specialties that any twitcher would delight in seeing. So when I got an email saying a spot had become available on May 27th (the day after my 25th birthday), I knew this was too good of an opportunity to miss!

​As the weeks approached, I formed my seabird wishlist. I already had a pretty reasonable list of seabirds having now done over 30 pelagic trips right around Australia. Unfortunately this ultimately means that it was becoming increasingly more difficult to add new birds to my list. This fact was exaggerated further when I scored a Salvin's Albatross on April 23rd and a Westland Petrel on May 14th on the Port Fairy pelagics in Victoria. So consulting eBird, the Seabirds and Pelagics Facebook group and a variety of other sources I discovered there were three 'realistic' birds I may stumble upon on the weekend. These included Southern Fulmar, Providence (Solander's) Petrel and Grey Petrel. Some other outside chances included Broad-billed Prion, Antarctic Tern and Kermadec Petrel. Speaking to Paul Brooks (organiser), he advised that he above order (1 Fulmar, 2 Providence & 3 Grey Petrel) was the likelihood and chance of each species. This information was duly noted and the study on Southern Fulmar began.

Finally the weekend came! I woke up on May 26th at 4.00am, apparently a year older, though very tired. My partner (Clancye) and I were taking an early flight to Hobart so we could enjoy a full Friday together exploring and wandering the wilderness of Australia's most southern state. Touching down just after 7.15am at Hobart Airport, we collected our hire car and hit the road, travelling southeast towards Port Arthur. We decided to spend the day exploring this region - not necessarily looking for much in particular, but enjoying the beautiful forests, bays and sights across the area. It's a very special part of the world, filled with many stunning natural wonders. We saw many birds, a handful of mammals and enjoyed the exceptional weather. We managed to connect with a whack of great species including Black Currawong, Scarlet Robin, Green Rosella, Tasmanian Thornbill, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Tawny Frogmouth, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Cape Barren Goose, Yellow Wattlebird, Strong-billed Honeyeater and of course the ever-present Tasmanian Nativehen. After a long day of birding, lavender farms, penguin searching, endemic photographing and chocolate-sampling, we checked into the Lufra Hotel at Eaglehawk Neck very keen for my first Eaglehawk Neck pelagic trip in the morning

Yellow Wattlebird

Sooty Oystercatcher

Red-necked Wallaby

7.15am I was dropped off at the Eaglehawk Neck Jetty where I met Sue Taylor, Paul Brooks and Els Wakefield. Everyone was keen and the conditions were looking spectacular! Soon we set off on board the Pauletta, which was a small little boat (certainly after getting a bit to accustomed to the luxury of the Port Fairy boat), and unfortunately a bit of spray seem inevitable. For a first-timer, I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the forests, cliffs and mountains that met the ocean in the early morning sunrise. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and I felt so lucky and special to be there.

It wasn't too long before we started to spot the first couple of pelagic species. The first (and almost most prominent albatross species of the day) was a Buller's Albatross, who wheeled past our vessel and followed us closely for many miles. He was soon joined by many friends. In the distance a few Sooty Shearwater soared past and a pair of unidentified Giant-petrel loomed over the waves. It took us around 2 hours to reach the shelf, my quickest ever journey out. On the way we spotted Great-winged Petrel, Fairy Prion, White-fronted Tern, Shy Albatross, Common Diving Petrel and Silver Gull.

Finally reaching the shelf, I was keen as mustard to get amongst it all! There were lots of great birds around and in the first hour of burleying we racked up a serious list of species. At the back of the boat, Paul Brooks and I were sorting through the prions when we spotted our first whalebird of the day. A few snaps later confirmed it as a Slender-billed Prion - nice! Then a few Wandering Albatross and Black-browed Albatross came to join the fray. We suffered a few minor rarity scares when a White-chinned Petrel came barrelling down the slick (Sue getting momentarily excited), but alas it was not a Westland Petrel. Around the boat, Cape Petrel (both subspecies) danced with multiple Fairy Prion and a single Wilson's Storm Petrel. It was all looking very promising as a Southern Giant Petrel zoomed into view and the first few Grey-faced Petrel were separated from the Great-winged Petrel.

I was trying my best to turn some distant white-caps into Southern Fulmar when I heard Paul called out "Grey Petrel"! I remember almost falling over myself with excitement! Grey Petrel! Racing to the back of the boat, I watched as a stunning, like truly stunning seabird flipped elegantly past the boat. Lifer and tick! What a thrill! This was a species I had wanted for a long time and now hear it was performing in front of us. It was a large slate-grey colour with a starkly-constrating pale bill. I thought it was rather plump, though it's mastery of flight was very impressive. It ducked, weaved and soared over our heads, sometimes in almost reachable proximity. This was a truly special moment and brilliant birthday treat!

Grey Petrel

Grey Petrel (with snack)

Grey Petrel (flying away)

The wonderful Grey Petrel spent at least the next 30 minutes with us, performing splendidly around the boat, causing much 'oohing' and 'aahing' from the pelagic participants. As it continued we were joined by another pair of Wandering Albatross, many more Northern Giant Petrel and then one of my favourite seabirds of all time, the magnificent White-headed Petrel. I spotted a Brown Skua come in briefly for a look (no South Polar unfortunately!) and then another cheeky White-chinned Petrel. Soon the first Grey-backed Storm Petrel came whizzing past, which disappeared never to be seen again.

The action was still very high and every now and then we'd taxi up the slick to see if there was another hanging about. Occasionally the Grey Petrel (presumably the same bird) would reappear for five minutes or so just to politely check in. Reaching our final stop Paul scanned the approaching birds and spotted a Providence Petrel - another lifer! Tick tick! I was thrilled however the bird did a casually slip past the boat and journeyed off towards New Zealand without so much as a second glance. No photographs, but a tick all the same!

​The species list was increasingly climbing with a Southern Royal Albatross briefly passing the boat and a few Campbell's coming for a feed. We also spotted a single Short-tailed Shearwater before our Grey Petrel joined us once again. A quick flash of white and another momentarily thrill resulted in (not a Southern Fulmar) another gorgeous White-headed Petrel.

​With the birding all wrapped up, we started towards home. After 20 minutes or so I spotted a Soft-plumaged Petrel who did a quick pass by the boat and continued on towards the shelf. Back towards the bay, we spotted a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle, Australasian Gannet, Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull, Great Crested Tern and a few Black-faced Cormorant. We docked at 2.45pm and I was glad to be clear of the spray. Two enormously satisfying ticks with Grey Petrel and Providence Petrel, brining my Australia total to 686 - only 14 now til the big 700 milestone!